Week 5 RB Rankings — Sponsored by SKYLLZONE

Now that you’re done playing a fullbacks or a scatback in your second running back spot because of the six teams on byes or injuries or bad waiver-wire luck, you can rest a little easier in Week 5, since the Dolphins and Raiders are the only ones resting this week. The Week 5 RB rankings go much deeper than they did a week ago.

Not only are we getting back running backs that were on byes, but we’re also getting back some injured running backs, like Ben Tate (knee), who practiced on Tuesday. We saw what Jamaal Charles could do with a week’s rest (three touchdowns against the Patriots), and Tate will need to be impressive if he plans to hold off both Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell from taking some of his carries.

Earlier this week, I wrote a column at FantasySports.About.com about the 42 Fantasy Players We’d Like a Do-Over On. I mentioned DeMarco Murray as the consensus top player in Fantasy Football after four weeks, but he’ll go up against a pretty good Texans defense.

Le’Veon Bell draws a matchup against one of the worst defenses in the league, and Giovani Bernard gets a shot at the Patriots defense that allowed Charles and Knile Davis to run all over them in Week 4.

The Vikings play in Green Bay, and while Matt Asiata has gotten most of the work (especially near the goal line), it’s rookie Jerick McKinnon that got everyone excited. He’ll own the starting job sooner or later, and he helps this Vikings team start to put the Adrian Peterson saga behind them.

The Panthers just can’t catch a break, as they’re now looking at an injured RB corps that reaches three deep: DeAngelo Williams (ankle), Jonathan Stewart (knee) and Fozzy Whittaker (thigh). While Whitaker looks like he might play, the Panthers signed Chris Ogbonnaya this week, and they’ll use Darrin Reaves against the Bears.

The SKYLLZONE Week 5 ADP shows fans are taking four running backs in the first 10 picks for this week’s matchups, with LeSean McCoy dropping all the way down to the … second.

David Gonos spent 5 years as a CBSSports.com Senior Fantasy Writer and three more years writing with SI.com. Over the past 17 years, his work has been published on NFL.com, MLB.com, FanDuel, FoxSports.com and USA Today. Since 2001, he has been tracking down the Top 50-plus Free Fantasy Football Draft Tools online. You can contact David Gonos here.